Word Of The Week

Word Of The Week: Kaiwa (会話): July 15th, 2010

Our Japanese word for today is – Kaiwa (会話) meaning conversation. The first kanji (会) means meeting, meet, join or party and has the readings – カイ, エ, あう, あわせる and あつまる. We’ll be using the カイ (かい) reading for today’s word.
Word Of The Week: Choushoku (朝食): May 5th, 2010

This week’s Word Of The Week is – Choushoku (朝食) meaning breakfast (formal). There are two other versions of breakfast – 朝飯 (Asa-meshi) and the more polite 朝ご飯 (Asa-go-han). Why are there so many words for breakfast? If you think about it in English we have the same situation as breakfast can be known as “brekkie”.
Word Of The Week: Monogatari (物語): April 13th, 2010

This week’s Word Of The Week is – Monogatari (物語) meaning story or tale. Monogatari is made up of two kanji – 物語 (ものがたり). The first kanji (物) means thing or object and has the readings – ブツ,モツ, もの – although we’re only interested in the もの reading for today’s example.
Word Of The Week: Densha (電車): March 31st, 2010

This week’s Word Of The Week is – Densha (電車) meaning (Electric) Train – which in Japan is an integral part of everyday life, especially in the larger cities. A train station such as Shinjuku in Tokyo claims over 3.5 million commuters passing through its gates daily – an incredible figure.
Word Of The Week: Gaikokujin (外国人): March 24th, 2010

This week’s Word Of The Week is – Gaikokujin (外国人) meaning Foreigner – a word that is historically well in-grained in the Japanese vernacular. Foreigner is made up of three kanji – 外国人 (がいこくじん).
Word Of The Week: Toshokan (図書館): March 15th, 2010

This week’s Word Of The Week is probably still relevant for those of us constantly studying a language. I can’t say I spend alot of time in them anymore though since the interwebs came along. Library is made up of three characters – 図書館 (としょかん). The first two kanji (図書 – としょ) form a kanji compound, which is where two (or more) kanji are joined together to form a new word.
WOTW: Doubutsuen: January 17th, 2010

When we were last in Tokyo we visited the sprawling Ueno Zoo located in Ueno Park (上野公園), about 15 minutes train ride north of Tokyo. There was plenty to see and do in the park (and also in Ueno itself) including the zoo, an amusement park, temples and much more.